The president of the Senate is the presiding officer of the Spanish Senate, the upper house of Spain's Cortes Generales. It is the fourth authority of the country after the Monarch (Head of State), the Prime Minister (Head of Government) and the President of the Congress of Deputies (Speaker of the Lower House). The president is elected among and by the incumbent senators. When the president is unable to exercise power, vice presidents of the Senate exercise the powers of the Senate president. Although it shares the representation of the Cortes Generales with the President of the Congress, the constitutional preponderance granted to the latter due to the asymmetry of the Spanish bicameralism, allows the President of the Congress to assume the leadership of the Cortes, leaving the President of the Senate in background. The current office was established by the 1978 Constitution, however, the position has a tradition of almost 200 years, since its creation in 1834 when it was called President of the House of Peers. As of the 14th term of the Cortes Generales, the current officeholder is Ander Gil, a member of the Socialist Parliamentary Group representing Burgos. Functions The functions of the President of the Senate of Spain are: To be the Speaker of the House and its representative in all official acts. To convene and preside over the sessions of the Senate Plenary and to keep the order of the discussions, direct the debates and convene and preside over the Senate Bureau. To convene and preside over, whenever it deems appropriate, any Senate Committee. To announce the agenda of the Senate Plenary. To maintain communications with the central government and other authorities. To sign, with one of the Secretaries, the messages that the Senate must address. To interpret the Senate's standing rules. To supply, in agreement with the Bureau of the Committee on Rules, the gaps of this one. To ensure observance of the standing orders and of the parliamentary courtesy and parliamentary usage. To implement measures regarding parliamentary discipline. The President also performs all other functions conferred by the Constitution, the laws and the standing orders Election The President of the Senate is elected during the constitutive session which follows the General Elections of the Kingdom or during the next session following the resignation of the incumbent President. The election of the President needs an absolute majority in the House. If an absolute